Risers are commonly used to provide a flow path between subsea reservoir and topside facility. A typical riser string has many riser joints, using various couplings. Usually, in terms of both strength and fatigue, riser joint connections are the weak points in a riser string. As risers are used tinder increasingly harsher environments, such as situations demanding higher tension load, higher bending load, higher internal pressure, and higher dynamic fatigue load, making riser joint connections that can withstand such harsher conditions has become a challenge. Apparatus and methods have been proposed for making riser joint connections that can meet the challenge.